It is desirable in automotive and industrial applications to have a strain gauge which is inexpensive, rugged and weldable or boltable to a member subject to strain and still have a high gauge factor. Commercial weldable strain gauges can be classified into three categories--foil type gauges with low gauge factors, sheathed weldable gauges and the expensive high gauge factor semiconductor gauges. The inexpensive foil type gauges are made of foil strain elements attached to pieces of metal using adhesives. The performance of such gages depends on the reliability and transmissibility of strain through the adhesive. These foil gauges have a gauge factor in the range of 2 to 8. There is a need for a relatively inexpensive, small and weldable strain gauge with a reasonably high gauge factor which could survive harsh environmental conditions for a long period of time. It is also desirable for such a strain gauge to be applicable to a wide range of steel structural members without thermal stress due to a mismatch of thermal coefficients of expansion.